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Union Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

South Jersey’s biggest lake: Union Lake holds bass, pickerel and crappie in tannic Maurice River water.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
111 cfs
Air / High
60 / 60 F
Wind
NE 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01411500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Union Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The main inflow is running 111 cfs, falling. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 10 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 60. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Maurice River at Norma NJ (inflow).

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01411500.

139217295111 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp60 F
High / Low60 / 43 F
WindNE 10-14 mph
Pressure1026.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain3% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:18 / 18:09
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Union Lake this week

The best day on Union Lake this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:34 AM-11:34 AM and 10:03 PM-12:03 AM
Minor period
3:56 AM-4:56 AM
Sun
07:18 to 18:09
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Union Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Union Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Union Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 68 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 68 F, wind to 14 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

New Jersey requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

New Jersey license. Bass, pickerel and panfish limits per current NJ Fish and Wildlife regulations.

Access

State boat ramp at Millville; Union Lake Wildlife Management Area shoreline access.

About this water

An 898-acre lake on the Maurice River at Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey: the largest lake in south Jersey.

Fishing Union Lake: the full guide

A Pine Barrens lake

Union Lake covers 898 acres on the Maurice River at Millville, the largest lake in southern New Jersey. The water runs tannic and acidic in the Pine Barrens style, and the fishery reflects it: largemouth bass, chain pickerel, crappie, yellow perch and catfish, with the state managing the lake through periodic drawdowns that renew the shoreline vegetation.

Bass and pickerel

Largemouth relate to the lily pads, timber and shoreline wood: plastics, spinnerbaits and topwater through the warm months, with frogs over the pads a summer staple. Chain pickerel are abundant and aggressive, hitting anything moving through the weeds: they are the species most visitors underestimate and most enjoy on light tackle.

Crappie and perch

Crappie stack around any structure and the deeper water near the dam, best in spring and fall on jigs and minnows. Yellow perch fill the shallows in cold months. The tannic water favors dark and high-contrast baits over natural colors, and the shallow lake warms quickly in spring, starting the bass season earlier than in northern New Jersey.

Millville logistics

A state boat ramp provides access, with the surrounding Union Lake Wildlife Management Area protecting extensive shoreline and offering bank fishing and hunting. Millville is minutes away. Periodic drawdowns for management or dam work change conditions substantially: check current status before planning a boat trip.

Common questions

Why is the water dark?

Tannins from the Pine Barrens watershed stain it: dark and high-contrast baits outfish natural colors here.

Are the pickerel worth targeting?

Absolutely: abundant, aggressive and excellent on light tackle. Most visitors underestimate them.

Do drawdowns affect fishing?

Yes: periodic management drawdowns change access and conditions substantially. Check current status first.

Is fishing good at Union Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Delaware Bay29 miSilver Lake31 miGarrisons Lake31 miCape May32 miNoxontown Pond34 miChristina River35 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01411500 — Maurice River at Norma NJ (inflow)
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.4200, -75.0500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.